Do Your Part

Earlier this week I ventured over to Aoharu with a friend for some last minute shopping. You know how hard it is to pick and chose when you want everything but can't afford it! Anyways, I wasn't shopping, she was, so I was just tagging along and being nosy. Recently, I have been coming face to face with content theft more than one person ever should, and it has struck me paranoid when in public places. I was tempted to costume out in a library look, but I refrained.

I noticed some guy randomly floating, have dresses with decently made sneakers on. He wasn't very old so it wasn't that odd, until I inspected his shoes. They were Chucks from Maschienwerk, only... not created by the owner of said store. He was alt-camming everyone without range, and then he vanished.

After that, I started being more nosy. I was camming everyone in the join and inspecting them left and right. A handful had on an anti-inspect shield or two. After de-rendering them, my friend and I noticed stolen content from the likes of Maitreya, Bax, Reek, and Grasp among other brands in world. We were racking up snapshots and uploads reporting all of this stolen content to the original creators. I of course warned Machang for the third time in a week about someone stealing or having stolen something of hers.

If that isn't bad enough, I retreated to a place I normally trust. I set up platform in a sandbox meant for educationalist to build and learn in sometime last year. I build there constantly. The sandbox has always been a quiet place unless schools are logged in for virtual classes. I have kept to myself there for months, with friends, quietly building. Until recently. Dozens of people have been flocking to this sandbox and setting up houses. Now, while I have a platform out, two now for the horde of friends I have to build there, I have never set up a house. I leave out only what I need to. These newer folks waltz in, rez stolen houses from popular prefab brands and invite over anyone they can think of. Well, I got to being nosy again, and I have seen more stolen content in the last month than I have ever in my Second Life. Mind you Prudence is not my first account. It's almost horrifying. To thicken the plot though, remember the guy I spoke of two paragraphs up? He who suspiciously loomed over Aoharu and disappeared? Yeah, well at least two of the people frequenting the sandbox I build in about an hour later had on Aoharu vest, MADE BY SAID PERSON. Not to forget, a few days before this I literally caught someone mid air in said sim copying an Aoharu coat prim for prim, probably by an out of game program. I wouldn't know, but that is what got me so aware, and pissed off.

They are a big community, but a small world. What they steal gets around quick, and most of the time you will see one content thief and s/he will be the alt of another. They aren't going to stop anytime soon unless we all put in effort, including Linden Labs. I know you have seen or heard a plethora of people telling you to do your part and be aware, but honestly you are probably thinking "Why do I need to, you are, I can go about my day and shop and do what I do."

You should be aware. You should be aware that every time you are out in public land, you are at risk of having everything you are wearing copied. Every time you blog, you're at risk of aiding a content thief into knowing where a good place to steal from is. Which, is partly why this new blog is not very active.

As much as I hate saying this, you need to stereotype. Content theifs run in packs, and it's a given.

Be aware! Turn transparencies on (Control Alt T) and look for anti-inspect shields. Use Emerald Viewer to de-render shields and inspect what people are wearing, as well as see who may be camming you. However, do NOT yell at people for camming you, we all do it. It does not mean someone is stealing, but at least you should be aware of it. Snapshot and report people wearing stole content. It really is that easy to be proactive about keeping IP rights safe. Do your part.